Jaunedice Part One-and-a-Half
by I'll Eat Yourself
Summary: Nobody likes Cardin, so I wrote a one-shot in which my character beats the crap out of him. This takes place right after the duel in Jaunedice Part 1, hence the title. By the way, that cover image is my OC featured in this story, but he's supposed to look a lot more innocent and a lot less like a guy in his 20s. He's supposed to be easy to underestimate. XD


**I wrote this because Cardin pisses me off and I wanted to see him get owned. If I overdid or underdid anything, then that would be why. You can blame momoxtoshiro for some of the inspiration, I've had this idea for a while but it was reading her stories for RWBY that got me to finally write this. The reason for the title is because this takes place right after the duel in the episode "Jaunedice Part 1".**

**Turns out I can't put "1.5" in the title because it removes the period so it says "part 15" for some STUPID reason (seriously why can't we put decimals in our titles!?), so I changed the title to say "One-and-a-Half" to clear things up.**

* * *

"We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a beowolf now, would we?"

Cardin huffed. "Speak for yourself," he mumbled just loud enough for Glynda to hear. She dismissed it as casual hostility from the average jerk before preparing to dismiss the audience, but was then interrupted.

"Hold up, Ms. Goodwitch," came a young-sounding voice that seemed somewhere between male and female. A thin boy about the same age and height as Jaune stood from his seat in the front left and walked onto the stage. He had hair of the same color, brownish glasses with clear rectangular lenses, and behind those lenses, eyes that were a dark sea-blue. He wore a long blue coat that went down to his ankles, black snow boots, and brown leather gauntlets with steel plating. The largest plate on each gauntlet, the one on the back of the hand, had a large glowing blue gem on it about the same size as the red gem in Cardin's mace. There were small designs of the same blue color snaking from the gem toward the back of each glove in jagged patterns, patterns that reminded most that saw them of fictional 'ancient technology' from fantasy films.

The boy walked into plain view of all that were in the room. "Since there is still some time between now and the next class, do you mind if I provide a small demonstration of how to go about defeating an opponent such as Cardin?"

Cardin looked confused and mildly angry. He didn't want to be here longer than he had to be! It was bad enough he had to be in school at all! "Just who the heck are you?" he asked.

The boy turned to the armored bully. "My name is Shike T. Marshall, and I am actually a grade ahead of you, so don't go thinking I got nothin' on ya."

Cardin gave a slight look of amazement as those in the crowd who heard the exchange gave a unanimous "Ooooooooh!" at witnessing the burn he was just dealt.

"You just got burned by the ICE king. Sad," Shike spoke again, getting a few laughs. He turned back to Glynda. "Well, Ms. Goodwitch?"

Glynda looked at her watch, then back to the blue student. "I guess it couldn't hurt. Better to teach the students how to survive than to let them figure it out on their own too late."

"I like your thinking. Thank you." The boy walked over to where Jaune remained sitting on the floor of the stage. "Mind if I borrow your sword and shield for a moment?"

"Why?" Jaune asked.

"Because I also want to show how to deal with such an opponent using weapons such as yours. Otherwise my demonstration won't have as much effect."

"Um…okay…" Jaune handed over the sword and shield as Shike took off his gauntlets and threw them to the side. He didn't want to be tempted to use his own weaponry in this fight. He picked up the sword and shield and turned to face Cardin.

"Alright, Cardin. In proper procedure, I challenge you to a duel. Do you accept?"

Cardin grumbled under his breath before reluctantly going back to his battle-ready pose. "Sure, let's get this over with."

Shike held the shield in front of him with his left hand. "Bring it on."

The two stared at each other for a few moments, neither of them wanting to make the stupid move and attack first. Then Shike did the most unexpected thing they had ever seen.

"Alright, I'm not going to attack anytime soon," he said, lowering his guard completely and beginning to turn away, "so you might as well attack me yourse-"

He was cut short as Cardin rushed forward. Shike was still looking in his general direction and saw this, re-positioning himself back into his guard stance just as Cardin swung his mace. The mace bounced off the shield, but the force caused Shike to take a step back. He was struck by another blow, and another, and was quickly losing ground as Cardin continued his assault. Shike appeared to have underestimated the physical strength of his opponent, but he continued to watch Cardin's every move to the best of his ability. Just as he began to reach the edge of the stage, Cardin made one last swing, hoping to bash the shield away and leave his opponent exposed. Instead, Shike raised the sword, keeping the shield in front of him, and slid the blade between the flanges of Cardin's mace. The sword struck the red gem on the end of the shaft. There was a sudden small explosion as the dust gem reacted to the impact, and both Shike and Cardin were knocked off their feet, and their weapons, barring the shield, out of their hands. Shike fell off the side of the stage, but stood back up moments later and grabbed the sword. Cardin landed on his back and slid a few feet before holding his hand to his head and trying to regain his bearings. Shike moved the sword to his left hand for a moment and looked up at the two screens hovering above the stage. His aura meter had gone down a bit, but Cardin's was now half-empty. Blocking the explosion with the shield had been a success! Grinning, he rushed back onto the stage, barreling straight for Cardin, now holding the sword in his right hand again. Cardin managed to stop the ringing in his ears just as his opponent reached him, and kicked upward. Shike used the shield to block Cardin's kick and carry himself over the downed brute, tucking into a roll before standing up again and facing Cardin, who was now on his feet again as well and rushing to get his mace. Shike ran at Cardin again, but Cardin grabbed the mace and blocked the strike that had been aimed for his midsection. He shoved Shike off of him and went to go on the offensive again, but Shike blocked yet again. He grew angry, and suddenly swiped sideways, knocking the shield right out of Shike's grip. Just as he was about to go for an overhead swing, Shike held the sword up with his now-freed left hand against the flat of the blade to block the blow. His eyes followed the Almace as Cardin pulled back and went for another side swipe, and instead of blocking or striking this time, he held the sword sideways and thrust it between the mace's flanges again, twisting the blade so it locked in the flanges and allowed him to disarm Cardin with a flick of his wrist. He held the blade to Cardin's throat. Glynda took this as a sign to end the match, and so said "The match goes to Shike T. Marshall!"

Cardin slammed his fist into the floor with a grunted "Dammit!"

"Now now, Cardin, language," Shike said as he pulled the blade away from Cardin's neck and walked over to retrieve the shield, which wasn't too far from the Almace. Cardin stood up and followed, but Shike held the blade between the two of them, knowing the big man could be the type to resort to cowardly retaliation, even after the match.

"That was a fantastic demonstration of defense and combat tactics, and even served as a good lesson in the various ways to use one's weapon. Well done," spoke Glynda to the boy in blue, before turning to the audience, addressing the lesson, and finally dismissing them.

Shike picked up the sword and shield, thanked Glynda for the comments, and began walking over to Jaune.

"That was…wow!" Jaune said as Shike neared him. "How did you do that?"

"Simple," Shike said, handing the weapons back to their owner. "Cardin's mace is very cleverly designed, allowing it to be swung fast and still cause a lot of damage. However, this also causes some flaws, as it leaves the cleverly-placed gem exposed to anything that can fit between the flanges, and even makes the flanges themselves a weak point. Ever seen something in motion get stopped by two things pressing in from the sides, or vice versa? Same concept. As for the explosion, I expected the gem to be a dust gem, and so I planned to block the explosion with the shield. If the gem turned out to be simply aesthetic, then I would have disarmed him instead of forcing us apart with the explosion."

"Wow. That's uh…kind of a lot to take in at once."

"Yeah, it kind of is. Sorry! I ramble sometimes!"

"From the sound of it, you'd probably ramble almost as much as Ruby. Or, heh, me…"

"Yeah, almost. Just depends on what I'm talking about. Now, do you have any idea what I was doing for the first while?"

"Um, no."

"The shield was designed upon its invention for defensive purposes. I used that to my advantage and let Cardin attack me a few times. I used those attacks to figure out his attack patterns and gauge his strength. Then, I came up with a way to force us apart, or at least end his onslaught long enough for me to retaliate. From there, I just used knowledge that should be imperative for anyone using two weapons at once."

"Aaaaand what is that?"

Shike sighed. "You'd think someone would have told you this by now. The sword and shield may be two different things. The sword was designed for offense and the shield for defense. However, they were initially meant to be used as a team. One of the most effective ways to use them together is to use the shield to defend yourself until you can find an opening or weakness in your opponent's defenses. If you can't, make one, then use the sword to exploit it!"

"Not sure I get it."

Shike held up his hand. "Give me the shield for a moment." Jaune gave the shield back to Shike, who once again held it in his left hand and then lifted it in front of him. "Now strike me with the sword. Just do a normal swing like you usually would, as if you were going to strike me dead."

"But it'll-"

"Just do it."

Jaune shook his head and raised the sword for a downward blow. He swung down with all his might, but the sword only bounced off as the shield gave way a little.

"Good. Notice how the shield gave slightly as you struck? That's because I was taking the full blow. Now, do the same thing again."

Jaune did as he was told, but instead of taking the blow as before, Shike suddenly swung the shield outward and knocked the sword clear to the side as he lunged for Jaun's neck. He stopped himself just as his right hand wrapped itself around Jaune's neck lightly, and lowered his guard. "See what I did there?" he said. "You attempted to hit me head-on, but instead, I directed your blow to the side with the shield, leaving you completely open. I made my own opening and exploited it, and I didn't even need a sword to do it. Got it now?"

"Yeah, I think so…heheheh…" Jaune replied, rubbing his neck and clearly trying to hide his fear. He didn't like it when people grabbed his neck.

"Sorry for grabbing your neck, by the way. It was for the sake of the lesson. I wouldn't have done it otherwise."

"Yeah, no problem…" Jaune responded again. He took the shield back from Shike. "Can I go now?"

"Yeah, you're good. You have the bravery needed to be a warrior, and that's something that's hard to come by so easily. Now you just need the skill to complement it! Good luck!"

"Thanks!"

Jaune rushed off, and Shike walked back to the stage to grab his gauntlets before heading off for lunch. He didn't see Cardin, who was just walking off the stage himself, having stood there brooding as Shike had talked to Juane. Cardin saw him however, and decided to take this chance to show him who the real boss was around here while his back was turned. He rushed at Shike, mace raised above his head, and yelled a war cry as he closed in.

It happened in a flash. Shike heard Cardin's yell and saw his shadow looming over him just as he got his first glove on. He whirled around and held up his right hand, now gloved once again. The mace struck the gem on the glove, shattering it. Next thing he knew, ice dust erupted from the spot where the gem was and Cardin backed up to avoid it, but not before his hands had been frozen with his mace. He continued backing up, trying to break free, but Shike rushed at him, grabbed his chest plate, and kicked, sending him onto his back while ripping his chest armor right off. He then knelt over Cardin and glared at him, chest armor raised over his shoulder poised for a solid whack to the head.

"Don't you EVER try something like that again unless you are in a life-or-death situation, and even then, try THINKING before you rush in. I swear if I see you even TRY to act hostile toward or take advantage of another innocent person again, you will wish you had never met me. Understood!?"

Cardin whimpered, still showing signs of resistance.

"ARE WE CLEAR!?" Shike yelled in his face, raising the chest armor even more. Cardin nodded hastily. Shike lowered the armor and dropped it onto Cardin's chest before standing up.

"Good. Now get out of here before I change my mind and send you to the infirmary."

Cardin scrambled to his feet and rushed out of the room, smashing the mace into the metal doorframe to break the ice on his way out. Shike walked back over to where his other gauntlet still lay and put it on before finally heading out himself.

((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))

"Well that was an interesting practice duel," Blake said aloud as she sat at the table with her teammates.

"Yeah, but you have to admit, it was pretty aweso-" Ruby was cut short as a figure walked up behind the white-clad heiress next to her.

"Excuse me, you are Weiss Schnee, correct?" came the voice they recognized to be that of the boy from earlier.

Weiss turned around to meet him directly. "Yes, that would be me. What do you want?" she said, sounding rather annoyed.

The boy in blue held up his right gauntlet, showing the now-missing gem, and then smiled sheepishly.

"Cardin decided to attack me one last time after everyone had left. Think you can spare an extra ice gem until I can get another one to replace it? Heheh…"

Weiss was clearly not amused, but agreed anyway, claiming it was only because he had shown Cardin who's boss.

* * *

**And now Cardin has found someone to fear. In case you are wondering, Shike's gauntlets help him channel ice and water dust, even though he has learned how to do it without them. He's very much like Glynda in terms of skill, but simply does far better with those two elements than he would with something that has an uncontrollable shape, such as fire. He is also very good with explosives, but prefers using such things for long range or to create a gap between him and his opponent. His skill with weaponry is very developed, allowing him to easily master most weapons. Scythes are actually an exception, as he is unable to use them with such efficiency as one like Ruby, but that doesn't mean he isn't still quite deadly with them. He has a bit of a history with Pyrrha, although it is currently unknown whether this was romantic or merely as friends and sparring partners. After all, part of his skill with multiple weapon types comes from switching weapons with her to make things interesting during sparring and practice missions. One thing that wasn't shown is his other weapon of choice, a collapsible metal bo staff with every kind of dust in each end, sort of like how Weiss's rapier has the revolver thing with the dust in it. The staff acts as a dust conductor, and thus can be used for mid- and long-range purposes. Shike can channel some types of dust to turn it into a spear, even going so far as adding one spear point to each end. He has also, at times, locked it into its collapsed state and used it like a sword, an idea he thought of when he saw Pyrrha use her weapon in a similar manner once.**

**Strangely enough, his grades have been dropping lately due to laziness, but he's become far less socially awkward as a result. Unbeknownst to those that don't know him, he is quite the collector, preferring to keep any valuables, weapons included, that he finds on a whim or on the body of a fallen comrade/opponent, unless he can find their original owner or find someone who needs the object more than he does. He will sell anything he finds if he already has another of that object/weapon, unless it's so valuable that he decides to keep it for bragging rights or "just in case".**


End file.
